Pradeep Sangwan receives 18-month ban for dope offence

Kolkata Knight Rider Pradeep Sangwan has been slapped with an 18-month ban by the three-member International Dope Test and Management tribunal for testing positive during IPL 6 in March this year.

The verdict, passed by the three- member tribunal of the Sweden-based IDTM company hired by the BCCI, means that the left-arm seamer will miss the upcoming domestic season as well as the next IPL. Sangwan, who tested positive for performance- enhancing drug stanozolol, will also not be able to compete in any BCCI or DDCA-affiliated tournament during the period. His ban will end next October.

“We made our best efforts to help Sangwan in the case. We argued that it was his first offence, he was ignorant and his intentions were something else. I think the verdict was slightly on the harsher side. Our president (Arun Jaitley) is currently out of country, and we will decide on the future course of action after he returns,” DDCA vice-president Chetan Chauhan told Mail Today. Other top DDCA officials, however, ruled out possibilities of an appeal against the verdict as it will only further stretch the agony for all parties concerned-Sangwan, KKR and the DDCA.

According to BCCI sources, the tribunal during its hearing on October 1 was also sympathetic to 22-year-old Sangwan’s argument that he consumed the banned substance inadvertently in guise of fat burners on the advice of a gym instructor.

It also kept in mind his age and chances of being a Team India player. The tribunal then decided to reduce the ban from two years to 18 months, and also applied the ban from the date of testing while keeping in mind his chances of representing the state team in the next domestic season.

Sangwan, who is the second cricketer to fail a drug test in IPL after Pakistan’s Mohammad Asif, is presently recuperating after a shoulder surgery on his bowling arm and has been undergoing rehabilitation under DDCA- appointed physios. Despite repeated attempts, Sangwan could not be reached for his comments.

All domestic and international players are currently free of their IPL contracts and franchisees are awaiting the IPL governing council’s ruling on player retention and open auction.